Christian Book Awards 2023 Finalist for Young People’s Literature
Marty Machowski’s Darkest Night Brightest Day shows families how Easter morning turned the world upside down and right side up.
Start a new Easter season tradition with your family by reading this beautifully illustrated “upside down” book that includes fourteen Bible stories for Passion and Easter weeks. Begin on Palm Sunday with the first side, Darkest Night, which has seven stories that recount the events of Passion week, ending with Christ’s crucifixion and burial. Flip the book over on Easter morning and continue by reading Brightest Day, featuring seven more stories that progress from Christ’s resurrection to his ascension and Pentecost.
Machowski weaves the four Gospel accounts together into one harmonized story and provides questions for family discussion. Children are sure to remember the contrast between the darkness at the death of our Lord and the light-filled events from Christ’s resurrection onward.
· This beautiful hardback book, illustrated by Phil Schorr, is sure to become a treasuredfamily favorite to be used every Easter.
· Designed for families to read one story each day for two weeks, beginning Palm Sunday.
· Targeted to families with preschool and grade school children but can used in family devotionals with teens as well.
AUTHOR
Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA, where he has served on the pastoral staff for over thirty years. He is the author of a number of family devotionals, curriculums (including the Gospel Story for Kids), children's books, and parenting titles. His latest releases include WonderFull, God Made Me for Heaven, Angels on Your Side, and Darkest Night Brightest Day. He and his wife, Lois, have six children and several grandchildren, and reside in West Chester, PA.
ILLUSTRATOR
Phil Schorr resides in southern California with his family, where he tells stories through visual mediums. He has always been fascinated with mid-century design and the use of bold yet imperfect geometric shapes. As an art director and visual designer, he brings his influence of music, animation, and global stories into his work. He has the privilege to do what he does because of the love and support of his wife, Joelle and his wildly adventurous kids. Phil is the illustrator of Jesus Saves and Darkest Night Brightest Day.
"The good news of the person and work of Christ is the most important thing we can celebrate with and teach to our children. This family devotional teaches, proclaims, and applies the things of "first importance" (1 Corinthians 15:3–4): that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day."
Justin S. Holcomb and Lindsey A. Holcomb, Authors of God Made All of Me, God Made Babies, and God Made Me in His Image
"In Darkest Night Brightest Day best-selling children’s author Marty Machowski once again provides families with a devotional they can trust and enjoy together! With stunning illustrations and helpful discussion questions, this Easter devotional is a new and fresh retelling of the old, old Story. Through the cross and empty tomb, history was changed and lives are transformed. The difference is night and day."
Champ Thornton, Pastor; author of several books, including The Radical Book for Kids, The Serpent Slayer and the Scroll of Riddles,and Why Do We Say Good Night?: When You Are Afraid of the Dark
"If you’re looking for a fun and theologically sound way to teach your children about the true meaning of Easter, look no further. Marty Machowski has done it again! Darkest Night Brightest Day is an excellent resource for children."
Ginger Hubbard, Bestselling author of Don’t Make Me Count to Three and Chloe and the Closet of Secrets; speaker; cohost of the Parenting with Ginger Hubbard podcast
"Nothing is more important than introducing our children to Jesus. Nothing is more vital to know about Jesus than his death and resurrection. In Darkest Night Brightest Day Marty Machowski has given us a beautiful, thoughtful, user-friendly tool for guiding our children (and ourselves!) to Jesus in a reflective, worshipful observance of Holy Week and Easter week."
John Kitchen, Author; pastor of the International Church of Slemani, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq
"This book is a gift to both parents and children. The words, artwork, and discussion questions bring the resurrection story to life. I'm certain it will become a new Easter-season tradition in our home."
Drew Hill, Award-winning author of Alongside: Loving Teenagers with the Gospel
"If you’re having trouble convincing your kids that Easter is more than candy and egg hunts, Marty Machowki’s Darkest Night Brightest Day is here to help. Colorful and Christ-exalting, this book shows how the darkness of Calvary became the light of resurrection. Marty’s books are a treasure for parents who want their children to know the glories of the gospel."
Trish Donohue, Author of Between Us Girls: Walks and Talks for Moms and Daughters
"Darkest Night, Brightest Day is a great tool for helping young children gaze intently at Christ’s life and work. With attention to detail, Machowski carefully guides families through the events of Holy Week and the days between resurrection and Pentecost. The book will help children to see Christ’s beauty and the importance of putting faith in him."
Jared Kennedy, Editor at The Gospel Coalition; author of The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible and Keeping Your Children’s Ministry on Mission
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Marty Machowski
Scott James
Jared Kennedy
Kate Hox
We loved doing this book for Easter, my 5 year old was eager to do the daily readings and the older children wanted to read portions of Scripture. We loved how it brought the accounts of the death and resurrection of Christ all together. Excellent resource that we look forward to using again next year!
An impressive grouping of family devotionals to use before and after Easter!
my wife and i love it, and have given it away to several couples with kiddoes
Bought for my 4-6 yr olds. Lots of words are big, concepts are big. Personally I loved this book but had to re-explain ALOT to my kids or break it down for them better so they understood. But ultimately we all loved it, and frankly I’m not sure I’d change the older language - maybe write another instead. Great book!
Bought 30 of these book to give to our church families on Palm Sunday! They are so beautiful and I love that it includes questions to help further engage your family in the Easter story. 10/10 would recommend!
I am so glad I found this in time for the Holy Week! The storytelling was powerful and lined up to Scripture! The illustrations were beautiful. I was captivated by the cover!
We purchased 40 copies to give to families at Easter and are very pleased. Although the print could be larger, in some ways that makes it easier for those with younger children, as I think they will need to paraphrase and "read the pictures". This is a book that will grow with them! We love that it goes all the way to Pentecost and the flipping over of the book makes it so meaningful, especially since most of our children have been through Godly Play. After the crucifixion, we always say "But WE know that is NOT the end of the story!" And on Easter we say, that the resurrection of Jesus turns everything inside out and upside down! We can't wait to present this to our families, this year by Palm Sunday!
The strength of this book is that it summarizes and harmonizes the accounts of the gospels regarding the events leading up to, and following, the cross. A family will read seven summaries leading up to the cross, and seven summaries of the resurrection to the ascension. Each day ends with 4 questions that you can ask your family for discussion. The questions vary. However, I find that the questions are not as deep, insightful, or focused on the major points as I would like. I have found this to be the case with other devotionals written by Machowski. If you want a great book on how to teach your children the Gospel from all of Scripture, check out "Show Them Jesus" which is also printed by New Growth Press. That book won't give you a pre-printed devotional to read each day, rather it will equip you with the skills to point to Jesus and engage your child's heart from any passage of Scripture. Resurrection Eggs would probably be a better resource for smaller children. And, all children would probably benefit from better questions. The art, and the creativity of the book are good. It is not a bad book by any means, and we even provided this book to all the families in our church.
The book finally arrived here in the Philippines after three weeks! I've been looking for a good Easter resource for our family devotion and this book is just perfect. Each chapter is theologically rich but easy to grasp for my young kids. The discussion questions are also very helpful. I love feature where we flip the book to the other side and it takes us to the resurrection of Jesus and the events that followed. The book itself is gorgeous and beautifully illustrated.
Every book I've read from Marty Machowski has been absolutely amazing! Although most of his books are directed towards children, they are just as engaging and powerful for adults. His newest upside down Easter book is no exception. The book is unique in that it's double sided and upside down: part one of the book on one side while part two of the book is on the flip side. Part one is titled Darkest Night and part two is titled Brightest Day. The Darkest Night chapters: - The Triumphal Entry - The Trap - The Betrayal - The Arrest - The Trial - The Crucifixion - The Burial The Brightest Day chapters: - The Stone is Rolled Away - Jesus is Risen - The Road - The Doubter - The Catch - The Ascension - Pentecost Each chapter lists corresponding scripture references for families to read on their own either before the book or after the book. The chapters also conclude with questions to discuss as a family to help ponder the story. I love this portion of each chapter as it promotes great discussion about biblical concepts and push children to have a better understanding of God's work that often doesn't make sense to the real world. The illustrations are phenomenal as usual with Machowski's books. Extremely engaging and depict many of the better options for each section of the Easter story. The chapters are a bit detailed and long so would be best read to ages 5-10 but still enjoyable for older children as well. This is an absolutely wonderful option for families to prepare for the Easter season. I received a digital copy of this book from New Growth Press in exchange for an honest review.
